Subsurface Selections is a weekly dig through UK Bass, UKG & breaks, from a bloke who spends an unhealthy amount of time looking for it. Twelve label releases from the week, three free downloads, the news worth knowing, and one set of the week. Music where bass is the protagonist.
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It's the scariest time of the year. No, not the Bicep ticket sale, although watching Dice's website fall over like a pensioner on black ice was genuinely frightening. I mean Halloween, which has somehow become a fixture of the UK rave calendar. I've never been a fan of themed nights. They feel like something dreamt up by a promoter with a spare box of fake cobwebs. Then again, the Special K zombies turn up to every warehouse in late October, costume or not. Did you get out? I was at Overmono on Friday. Not exactly Halloween music, but Blawan followed them and dragged the whole room into a damp, dark warehouse full of bassline. Far scarier than any vampire.
Record of the Week: Supafly, Eva, Declan Knapp, Woodcamp, Ca$h X - Close Attention
Too many cooks spoil the broth, they say. Many hands make light work, they also say. Idioms are useless. Here, five artists pile into one kitchen to sample The Prodigy's Out of Space, and the result is a proper speedy G record: bouncy, cheeky and stuffed with vocals. We haven't had an out-and-out speed garage track as Record of the Week for a while. This one didn't give us a choice.
A shout too for Loner Tennis Club, two lads from Italy who I reckon will be the next big electronic duo. You heard it here first. If you like Bicep and Overmono, they're your sort of thing. They play fully live off an Ableton rig, and Deck7 is bass-heavy but properly dreamy. We've put the Absent Ink remix in the grid because it's more clubby, but both deserve your time.
Plenty more to get your ears around.
Tom (japanese.knotweed)

The good: Moth Club is saved
Hackney Council has refused a second bid for flats next door, after 27,000 objection emails and a 35,000-name petition. Turns out the planning office does read its post.
Read it on NME
The bad: A night out now costs 34% more than in 2020
The average is £28.06, up from £20.95, and punters have stopped swallowing it: spend grew just 2.1% this year. The NTIA says the consumer can't be the industry's shock absorber forever.
Read it on Mixmag
The ugly: Meta wanted to scrape every promoter, label and artist page on Instagram
New business terms would let it hoover up flyers, mixes and the rest for its ad products, with no opt-out short of closing your account. Meta has now pushed the rollout back, and an Oslo court has blocked it for the time being.
Read it on Music Business Worldwide

LIKE THE PICKS? Every label release from every issue lives in one Spotify playlist, exclusive to SS readers. The newsletter lands on Fridays, the playlist catches up on Sundays.

Pelle Lewis - Fantasy Dub
Bassline Baby
⬇️ Listen & Download
Yatsinko - The Reward Is Steeze (Dub)
Wubby Speedy G
⬇️ Listen & Download
wintsa - Diligent
Big Bass Remix of 'Gas Me Up'
⬇️ Listen & Download
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MPH @ Mixmag Lab London: Another masterclass from the man of the moment. I've listened to it three times this week, which is three more times than I've opened my emails. He swerves from high-energy house into the filthiest basslines without spilling a drop. You know what MPH is about. I know what MPH is about. This is an hour of exactly that.
Send me your tunes & feedback
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